In the absence of an update, have this little thing I whipped up for Page 2100.
"How has your day been?"
Kirika looked up from the cake. The girl, Mikuni, was staring across the table, that same careful smile visible on her face. She'd been silent practically since they'd pulled the cake out of the oven… and frankly, she couldn't blame her. This whole thing was… weird. She couldn't blame her for wanting some small talk.
"Well, uh…" Kirika said, scratching her head. The honest truth was, until she'd met the girl, it'd been a rather normal day. Get out of bed, throw on the uniform, read shoujo-ai instead of listening in class, bluff her way through discussions, eat lunch in one of the emptier classrooms (hard in a school made mostly from glass), read more shoujo-ai, go home. None of that stuff sounded all that interesting - well, except for the stuff that sounded weird. Eventually, she mumbled out an answer. "I guess until you showed up, it was pretty regular, you know. I went to school, and I left school, and… that's about it, I guess."
Mikuni nodded, seemingly understanding her meaning. "It sounds rather dull."
"It… kinda is, yeah." Kirika said this in spite of herself. Her ears burned, and she decided to focus her attention on the cake instead.
Mikuni seemed to take this in stride. "Ah, well. School can be like that. Have you been reading anything lately?"
Kirika swallowed her mouthful of cake. Okay, Kirika. This is your chance. Don't blow it. Don't say you haven't been reading anything. This is a classy girl. You gotta show her your stuff if you wanna be friends with her. Maybe more. But friends are okay. Just name something she'll find impressive.
"I've been reading some… Shakespeare, yannow? I mean, yeah, Shakespeare, hoo boy, what a great guy. He was so smart and stuff." She waved it off, casually.
"Which is your favorite play?" Mikuni said, leaning forward with a smile.
"Favorite… play…?"
"Mine is Twelfth Night. I believe Shakespeare's comedies are dreadfully underrated," Mikuni continued. She stood, assuming a mock-dramatic position, and began pontificating. "Cesario, by the roses of the spring, By maidenhood, honor, truth, and everything, I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride, Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide. Do not extort thy reasons from this clause, For that I woo, though therefor hast no cause; But rather reason thus with reason fetter: Love sought is good, but given unsought is better."
Kirika goggled at the other girl as she resumed her seat. "Okay, uh… I don't actually know any Shakespeare. I, uh… I made that up because I wanted to sound smart. I've, uh, been… reading… Crimson Lily Confession." At those last words, she fixed her gaze firmly on her own knees, and began shoveling what remained on her plate into her mouth.
A few seconds later, she felt a finger on her chin, pulling her up. She followed the finger, lifting her eyes from the plate to the sea-green eyes of the other girl. She was smiling, cheerfully amused. "Kirika… there is no shame in what you like. And in any case, not every work has to be Shakespeare. After all, I find that 'Even if you cannot remember our feelings, even if we are trapped here forever, I will always protect you!' is a perfectly serviceable bit of dialogue."
Kirika's eyes narrowed for a second… then grew very wide. "Wait a minute, you read Crimson Lily Confession? You? You… like that sort of stuff?"
Oriko gave a rather casual shrug. "Naturally. I do wish they'd just go out and say it, instead of dancing around the issue. It is in the title, after all."
Kirika's eyes gleamed. "Oh, yeah, I hate it when they do that! It's like, come on, they hug, they keep talking about how special they are and about how it's destiny, but come on, when are they just gonna make out or whatever? It's really…" She realized what she was saying, and immediately shrank back. "Uh. Sorry. I'm… yeah, I don't really get to talk to this stuff about people a whole lot, yannow?"
Mikuni chuckled. "Oh, you have no idea. I still have a collection under my mattress. Most of the crowds I used to rub shoulders with were not the most approving sorts." She sighed. "At least I know one person who enjoys them."
Kirika felt a grin creeping across her cheeks… then her ears picked up on something.
"Wait a minute…" she muttered. "I mean, uh, forgive me for asking, but… used to?"
At that question, Oriko visibly blanched again. Kirika shook her head, frantically adding, "But it's okay if you don't wanna say it, I mean, I guess if it's a sensitive…"
"No, no," Oriko muttered to herself, her fingers resting on her temple. "I knew you would have to ask eventually." She took a deep breath, and continued, in a somewhat firmer tone than before.
"My father, you see, was Senator Hisaomi Mikuni. As his daughter, I was the center at much of my school. I had high standards, and I was determined to meet them. The people around me certainly seemed to appreciate me being there." She sighed wistfully. "Then my father was convicted of… well, you can read it on the news if you want the full story. He… he took his own life." At those last words, she brushed her eyes. Kirika just listened, amazed and aghast.
Oriko shook her head, and continued. "After he died… I stayed. I had to be the one to shoulder his burden, and his crime. And nobody… nobody came to my defense. Nobody, not at school, nor at home. My friends turned their backs, my teachers refused me, all the old contacts my family had built up… none of them wanted anything to do with me. I was on my own. I would watch every news report… and I would realize that few of them ever mentioned me by name. It was always 'Mikuni's daughter.'" She smiled bitterly. "No wonder nobody came to me. Who would protect the shadow of a guilty man?"
Kirika finally spoke up. "No, that's not true! You… you're not in anybody's shadow, you're great! You're smart, and you're nice, and…" She shut her eyes, trying to think of what to say. "Look, just because people leave you, that doesn't mean it's over! People are fickle, and if they didn't care about you for you, then that's their problem, not yours!" She felt shocked at her own words, but she found her mouth continuing. "It's… I never heard of any of that stuff about your dad, and I still care about you. I don't know you, but I still care about you. Because you cared about me."
Finally, she seemed to be able to keep a lid on her mouth. Where had that come from? She barely knew this girl. What was she, some crazy love freak? Why did she care at all? Slowly, she opened her eyes, expecting to see the other girl looking bewildered or reaching for her cellphone or something like that.
Instead, Oriko's eyes shone with tears. "Thank you," she murmured. "You… you have no idea what it means to me, to hear that. I… I…" She wiped her own eyes. "I have to tell you something. I… I have to tell you why I contacted you to begin with."
"What?" Kirika was just shocked the other girl wasn't making a break for it, but instead seemed interested in continuing. Oriko, for her part, just resumed talking.
"Yesterday, our house was vandalized. You yourself saw the damage. And I… I was sitting in the attic, wrapped in a blanket, just waiting for it to end. And… and I spent a lot of time thinking. Wondering about who I was. What my purpose was. If I had anything to me that was truly mine. And… something I never expected, not in my wildest dreams, happened."
"You humans rarely do expect me."
Kirika jumped in her seat. "What was that? Did you hear that? What is… what's that voice? It – it was in my head!"
Oriko, on the other hand, merely glared at the windowsill. "Well, come out, then, You have been listening, then?"
"I don't understand why one would want to keep this private, or the need for such ceremony," the voice continued. "After all…"
A white creature hopped upon the windowsill, resembling nothing less than a hybrid of cat, squirrel, and rabbit. Its eyes, glassy and red, made contact with Kirika's as she backed away against the wall. "I find that my own appearance is often sufficient for a contract."
"Kirika…" Oriko said, still gazing at the creature with some wariness, "this is Kyubey. He… is a creature of magic."
"M-magic?" Kirika shook her head, shocked. "But that's – what is – how is that –"
Oriko continued. "Kyubey, you see, is a creature who offers a bargain, to girls of our age. It is a bargain for a single, solitary wish. In exchange…" She lifted her right hand, revealing a silver ring set with a white gemstone. In an instant, the ring glowed, and reformed in her hands, a light object resembling an egg. "This was created," she said, holding the object with care. "My Soul Gem. It carries everything of me. It fuels my body and my mind. And…"
Suddenly, the Soul Gem flashed with a bright white light. Kirika felt the urge to cover her eyes, but kept them fixed on the other girl, as her stockings extended into long white boots, as her short red skirt exploded into a sea of white folds like a bridal gown, the top melted into the gown as a set of buttons studded its front and a pair of large cuffs adorned the wrists, and a ruff and a shawl blossomed from her collar before being affixed in place by the same grey gem. The band holding her hair in its sidetail evaporated, letting it drape down her back, before a massive hat, resembling a mitre if not for the massive tassels extending from its back, grew from the crown of her head.
Oriko's eyes opened. "When I made a contract, I became something greater than a human. Greater, and more terrible." She stepped forward, now seeming even taller than Kirika, who was currently hunched against the wall and trying to process what was going on. At this point, the two were so close that Kirika could practically hear her breathing.
"I became a magical girl, Kirika. And the reason I came to you is to say… you can, too."
